Leveler

ABSTRACT

A support pedestal for grandfather clocks and other freestanding clocks having penetration legs thereon adapted to penetrate through carpeting to cause the weight of the clock to be supported by the hard flooring. The penetration legs being adjustable with respect to a frame for assisting in the leveling.

United States Patent Janda [4 1 June 27, 1972 [541 LEVELER 344,269 6/1886 Gregory ..248/1a8.4x

2,010,299 8/1935 Gray [72] Inventor. Cliflord C. Janda 9717 Cady Ave.,

Omaha, Nob 6813; 475,980 5/1892 Holt ..l08/l56 Filed: 1970 Pn'maryExaminer-ChancellorE. Harris [21 1 Appl. No.: 78,090

[52] US. C 248/116 511 m. (:1. ..A47f 7/02 [58] Field oiSearch ..248/ll6, l88.4,346.l, 188.2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,944,366 7/1960 Joabson ..248/346.l 1,826,578 10/1931 Schmitt ..248/l 88.2

Attomey-Hiram A. Sturges [57] ABSTRACT A support pedestal for grandfather clocks and other freestanding clocks having penetration legs thereon adapted to penetrate through carpeting to cause the weight of the clock to be supported by the hard flooring. 1

The penetration legs being adjustable with respect to a frame for assisting in the leveling.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEnJuuzv I972 3 67 INVENTOR,

C'L/FFORD a pm LEVELER FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is in the field of devices for supporting and leveling free-standing clocks such as grandfather clocks.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Grandfather clocks have always enjoyed a popularity which has increased in recent years. Their artistic beauty, motion, and the pleasure of the tone of their striking, make them very desirable.

However, a great many of the grandfather clocks in home are not in working condition simply because the clock is not setting vertically, but is inclining to one side of the vertical because it has settled into a carpet.

Wall-to-wall carpeting has been popular for many, many decades. When a grandfather clock is first installed on carpeting, it is adjusted to vertical position by means of levelers which are small feet threadedly attached to the underside of the base of the clock. These feet are flat on their undersurface and serve to level a clock temporarily. However, in a short time, the leveler feet of a clock sink into the pile of the carpet far enough to make the base of the clock disposed at a slant with respect to the horizontal causing the clock to lean to a critical extent causing the clock mechanism to cease working.

This leaning can be either to one side or forward or rearward in different cases. A critical leaning to one side is the most common problem, however, because the escapement mechanism of a clock involves the wheel having teeth which is engaged by a rocking verge having two projecting portions called crowns which must engage the escape wheel with an even drop-lock and slide to cause the clock to acquire a rhythmic beat.

When a clock is leaning to one side to an extent that is almost imperceptible to the eye, such as perhaps 2 or 3, the verge will engage at a greater drop-lock and slide on the side the clock is leaning to.

The greater drop-lock and slide on the side to which the clock is leaning causes a deeper engagement to the escape wheel, causing the clock to stop.

When a'clock leans forward excessively, its weights which hang by chain tend to hang too far forward since they are on the forward side of the clock, whereby they press against the door of the clock which is on its forward side.

On more rare occasions, clocks have leaned excessively backward, causing the hanging weights to hang into the path of the swinging pendulum which is at the front of the weights whereby they stop the pendulum motion, causing the clock itself to stop.

Through the years, clock owners have continually called on clock repairmen to repair grandfather clocks which have stopped. In a great many cases, all the repair that was needed was simply to adjust the levelers once more, but this is only temporary because the thick pile and matting of modern carpets is such that a heavy grandfather clock will quickly sink again and settle into an unlevel position so that the clock is again stopped.

Another problem is the effect a weight of persons walking across the floor in front of a clock. When a clock is mounted in a hallway or in a traffic pattern, persons walking along the floor will cause the carpet to sag, causing a clock to teeter and lose its accuracy.

Crude solutions to this problem have been employed, such as attaching a clock to a wall with screen door hooks, placing bricks in the base of a clock to give it more stability, and wedges have been inserted under clocks. Such methods have been ineffective because their effect does not last.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A leveler for a vertically elongated free-standing clock of a type which is supported only from its underside, the leveler being adapted to be placed between a clock and a flooring assembly, the flooring assembly sometimes comprising a layer of firm flooring having on its upper side a carpet matting, carpeting overlaying the matting, the carpeting having a backing and a top pile, the leveler comprising a frame having vertical openings in the underside thereof, the walls of the openings being threaded, vertically elongated leveler legs having threaded upper ends threadedly received in the openings and extending downwardly therefrom, the lower end portions of the legs being sufiiciently pointed as to penetrate the carpeting and matting without substantial damage to the carpeting whereby after the penetration, the carpeting itself can move upwardly and downwardly along the elongated leveling legs without affecting the position of the frame because the frame is supported on the firm flooring by the leveling legs in a manner substantially safe from settling so that once the clock has been set level; it will tend to stay level.

A covering means disposed above and supported by the frame and being composed of firm material for supporting thereon the underside of the clock. Another prior art attempt at a solution has been to place a large board under a clock in order to spread over a carpet area and distribute the weight. But in such cases, the board itself soon settles into a different position in the thick pile and the matting of the carpet, and so this solution is also merely temporary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 3 is a detail showing a corner of the leveler with portions of the leveler frame and the forward portion of a nut being broken away causing parts to be shown in section.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the cover of the leveler of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The leveler of this invention is generally indicated at 10 in FIG. 1 and is used in conjunction with a vertically elongated free-standing clock shown at 12 and which latter is of the type supported only from its underside.

The clock 12 is of a type which has a swinging pendulum 20 in back of which are weights 22 which are suspended on chain 24 in a conventional manner common to grandfather clocks.

The clock 12 is of a type having small feet 30 which extend down from the underside of the clock in which are threadedly mounted in the underside of the clock so that they can be extended downwardly various amounts to level the clock.

However, the feet 30 sink into a carpeting so such that as the carpeting settles, the clock no longer is level and ceases to operate.

For this reason, the leveler 10 of this invention is provided. The leveler 10 has a frame generally indicated at 40, which latter is disposed above a layer of carpeting 44 having pile 46 disposed above under-carpeting 48, which latter is above a finished flooring 50 supported by a sub-flooring layer 54.

Four penetration legs 70 are provided and are attached to the frame 40 and extend downwardly therefrom completely through the pile 46 and its backing and also through the under-carpeting 48 and somewhat into the upper side of the flooring 50, as shown in FIG. 1.

As best seen in FIG. 3, each penetration leg 70 has a threaded exterior 78 on its upper end and its method of attachment to the frame 40 is by the provision of threaded openings 80 through the frame 40 in which the upper ends of the legs are threadedly received so that the legs 70 can be adjusted up and down in order to level the frame 40.

In operation, after the frame 40 is level, nuts 84 on the threads 80 are tightened against the underside of the frame 40 so as to prevent further rotation.

n the upper side of the frame 40 is a covering 100 which is planar on its upper and lower sides, both of which are horizontal. The covering 100 is preferably a slab of marble or other firm material which serves to cover the frame 40 so that it is more slight, making it possible for the frame 40 to be unseen and yet be of a size to project out from the side of the base 120 of many of the clocks on the market. This side projection of the frame 40 is necessary to make possible mass production of a uniform size so that the frames are large enough for the larger based clocks and yet the entire leveler is not unsightly because the frame is covered by the covering 100.

The provision of having the covering 100 extend completely across the frame on all sides has the further advantage that then the feet 30 of the clock can engage the covering 100, even though they may come at points where the frame is not disposed, whereby the covering 100 serves more than an ornamental purpose.

I claim:

1. In combination: a vertically elongated, free-standing pendulum clock of a type which is supported only from its underside, a clock support, a flooring assembly comprising a layer of firm flooring, carpeting overlaying said flooring, said carpeting having a backing and a top pile, said clock support being disposed between the clock and said flooring assembly, said clock support comprising a frame having therebeneath elongated penetration legs extending through said carpeting and engaging said firm flooring, whereby after the penetration, said carpeting itself can move upwardly and downwardly along said elongated legs without affecting the position of said frame because said frame is supported on said firm flooring by said legs in a manner substantially safe from settling so that once the clock has been set level it will tend to stay level, the lower end portions of said legs being sufficiently thin, pointed, and elongated as to penetrate through the carpeting during installation without substantial damage to said carpeting.

2. The combination of claim 1 further having said frame provided with vertical openings in the underside thereof, the walls of the openings being threaded, a sufficient number of said legs having threaded upper ends threadedly received in the frame openings and extending downwardly therefrom to level said entire clock.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which said covering means is planar on its upper and lower surfaces and projects horizontally beyond said frame on at least three sides thereof for covering said frame from view from above.

4. The combination of claim 1 further having covering means disposed above and supported by said frame and being composed of firm material for supporting thereon the underside of said clock.

5. The combination of claim 1 further having covering means disposed above and supported by said frame and being composed of firm material for supporting thereon the underside of said clock, the covering means being planar on its upper and lower sides.

6. The combination of claim 1 further having said frame provided with vertical openings in the underside thereof, the walls of the openings being threaded, said legs having threaded upper ends threadedly received in the frame openings and extending downwardly therefrom l I l 

1. In combination: a vertically elongated, free-standing pendulum clock of a type which is supported only from its underside, a clock support, a flooring assembly comprising a layer of firm flooring, carpeting overlaying said flooring, said carpeting having a backing and a top pile, said clock support being disposed between the clock and said flooring assembly, said clock support comprising a frame having therebeneath elongated penetration legs extending through said carpeting and engaging said firm flooring, whereby after the penetration, said carpeting itself can move upwardly and downwardly along said elongated legs without affecting the position of said frame because said frame is supported on said firm flooring by said legs in a manner substantially safe from settling so that once the clock has been set level it will tend to stay level, the lower end portions of said legs being sufficiently thin, pointed, and elongated as to penetrate through the carpeting during installation without substantial damage to said carpeting.
 2. The combination of claim 1 further having said frame provided with vertical openings in the underside thereof, the walls of the openings being threaded, a sufficient number of said legs having threaded upper ends threadedly received in the frame openings and extending downwardly therefrom to level said entire clock.
 3. The combination of claim 2 in which said covering means is planar on its upper and lower surfaces and projects horizontally beyond said frame on at least three sides thereof for covering said frame from view from above.
 4. The combination of claim 1 further having covering means disposed above and supported by said frame and being composed of firm material for supporting thereon the underside of said clock.
 5. The combination of claim 1 further having covering means disposed above and supported by said frame and being composed of firm material for supporting thereon the underside of said clock, the covering means being planar on its upper and lower sides.
 6. The combination of claim 1 further having said frame provided with vertical openings in the underside thereof, the walls of the openings being threaded, said legs having threaded upper ends threadedly received in the frame openings and extending downwardly therefrom. 